Successful Liver Transplants for Liver Failure Associated With Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency

Pyruvate kinase deficiency (PKD) is the most common cause of congenital nonspherocytic chronic hemolytic anemia, and patients normally present with mild to severe anemia, unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia, and splenomegaly. Only a few reports of PKD have documented its association with severe, progressive liver failure. In all those cases, the patients died before liver transplant (LT) or immediately after transplant. We report 2 case patients with liver failure associated with PKD who successfully underwent LT and splenectomy: an infant who presented with neonatal cholestasis and a young adult with a severe form of PKD and having been transfusion dependent during childhood. After transplant, both patients have normal liver function test results and have considerably decreased their need for blood transfusion despite ongoing, mild hemolysis. We suggest that PKD can lead to severe liver dysfunction and that LT and splenectomy can be life-saving procedures in such cases.